Pre-Nursing advice.

[DomLaki]

Hello there,

To all reading i'd first like to thank you for your possible help, and if you do not wish to comment i thank you anyway for taking your precious time to read a worried student's state of mind currently.

So, i am a first semester Pre Nursing Major, i'm a sophomore (i recently changed my degree to Nursing). I'm a very committed, hardworking, attentive student. My problem is GPA, i currently have a 2.9 and i just transferred to a new University, its been a very "rocky" semester, i'd be lucky to come out with a 3.0 GPA. Now i have a highschool buddy who is a Nursing Major also, he unlike me didnt change his degree so he is already in the Nursing Program. He told me, that he got in first try i asked his GPA he replied a mind numbing "3.8"...a 3.8... I have to apply for the Nursing program at the end of next semester and i'll probably be applying with a 3.0-3.2. One of the Nursing Instructors told me not to worry about my GPA...But how can i not?! It's practically my only "prove my worth" card i can play with the Panel. I'm looking, frantically, to get my CNA and as much shadowing as i can get before i apply to be a safety net. I have excellent communication skills, and i am well mannered, respectful, and humble. My girlfriend is a CNA and shes also applying to Nursing School, and even she is rubbing it in a little on how she only has one B, the rest A's. I KNOW i'm a smart kid, and I KNOW i want to be a nurse. But, i'm a white duckling in a cluster of yellow ducklings, i stand out, sore thumb, you name it i'm noticed. I love education, i have a real passion for learning, its just tests...i get "sketched out" when i take them, all that studying i did just *poof* vanished. I'm meeting with my Advisor tomorrow, but this is a very serious issue for me, because it shapes my future, i want to be a nurse so bad, i look up current techniques, terms, procedures. Its probably worth noting the specialty i want to be in, OR Nursing/ Scrub Nurse.

So...help?

Thanks

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Read Commuter's article about this subject https://allnurses.com/pre-nursing-student/i-want-nurse-916987.html

[queserasera, RN]

Something to consider - GPA is only worth as much as the school you've attended. a 4.0 at a community college isn't the same as a 4.0 at an ivy league school, you know what I mean?

That being said, most nursing programs are using entrance exams to level the playing field and ensure some 4.0 students aren't straight A students due to grade inflation.

It's my opinion that a 3.5 GPA with a good TEAS score and a lengthy volunteer resume would be worth more that a 3.8 student with the same TEAS score and no experience.

Of course this is all just opinion, but don't stress yourself out. My GPA wasn't stellar when I realized I wanted to pursue nursing, I just had to improve and improve (and get a decent TEAS score and volunteer!!). Prove to yourself that this is your dream and other people (hopefully the admission board) will see that.